Dead Space: Flatline
by GC Rust
Summary: Over one month has passed since the distress signal from the USG Ishimura was received and the USG Kellion was dispatched. Now it is the turn of the Reclaimation Vessel USG Pathfinder and her crew to discover the horror of what awaits.
1. Chapter 1

_Ring around the Rosie_

_Pocket full of poises_

_Ashes_

_Ashes_

_We All Fall Down_

**DEAD SPACE**

Flatline

_Chapter 1_

Grave Robbing

"Well I'll be damned. There she is."

The ship was quiet in hushed reverence as the _USG Pathfinder_ exited out of shockpoint drive into the Aegis system. The small, five man crew gawked at the sight that awaited them. Aegis 7 was practically in pieces, large chunks of the planet now orbiting the remaining body like misshapen moons. The debris field surrounding the planet was gone, or rather had become replaced by even larger chunks of rock. But standing out boldly near one of the undamaged polar regions of the planet was the massive ship, the pride of the fleet...

The _USG Ishimura_.

"What the hell happened?" The pilot, a woman in her mid-20s wearing wireless glasses and a old, stained leather jacket inquired.

"Hell if I know Jackie." The woman's copilot, a man in his late 40s wearing a baseball cap and scratching at his three day old stubble, replied. "Looks to me as if the shit really hit the fan out here."

"Planet Crack went awry, that's what it looks like anyway." A third individual, this one in a matienance RIG, replied from behind his suit's visored helmet. "I've read about potential repercussions to a failed crack. My guess? Grav Tethers failed and sent the entire chunk of rock screaming back down onto the planet."

"The harmony of this section of the universe has been disturbed." Another male's voice came from behind the helmet of a Security RIG.

"Oh can the Unitologist Bullshit, Vasquez." A female in another Security RIG replied, her black and red hair covering her face as she leaned over her seat to check the barrel of her Pulse Rifle.

"Both of you can it, before I can you!" The man in the matienance RIG shot back. "The _Ishimura_ has been out of contact for a month, and I don't see any sign of the _Kellion_! A busted communications array shouldn't take this long to fix, and the fact we've got a planet wide cluster fuck leads me to believe something else is going down here."

"Could this have been the source of the distress call?" The copilot inquired. "I know officially the company's not suppose to be here, but that kind of planetary damage? No way the colony could have survived."

Jackie snorted in wry amusement. "If all that happened was like the Skip said, and it was a gravity tether failure, smart money would have been load up the survivors and quietly leave the system - not scream for help where God and everyone else could pick up the signal."

"Jackie's right Don." The Skip nodded as the _Ishimura_ grew closer. "Whatever happened here, it wasn't the reason this old bitch went silent."

"And silent's the right term for it." Vasquez pointed out, leaning forward on Don's chair and pointing out the window. "No running lights."

"Well that makes no damn sense at all." Jackie said. "The ship's nowhere close to the crack site. Someone had to move the thing into higher orbit to avoid the debris field."

"Which means someone's still onboard."The female security officer said while she checked the ship's scanner station. "Scanners not detecting any escape pods or lifeboats in their tethers, Skip. Looks like people got the hell out of there by any means necessary. Also got impact craters all over the ship. Looks like their anti-asteroid defenses went offline for awhile....what the hell?"

"What?" Skip asked.

"Sir, I don't know." She replied, shaking her head. "Near their main com array...it looks like something was tearing **chunks** out of the ship."

"How could something tear chunks out of a vessel two miles long?" Don demanded.

"Maybe they didn't clear the crack site immediately." Vasquez put in.

The female security officer shook her head. "No, these aren't consistent with impact craters. Like I said, it looks like something was tearing chunks off. Damn strangest thing I've ever seen."

"Well, we're almost there." Skip said. "Jackie, anything on their comm?"

"Nothing Skip." Jackie responded. "Their communications are online and up and running, but nobody's picking up the phone."

Skip sighed and shook his head. "Alright people, we do this by the books. We go aboard, secure any company people and documents we can get our hands on, then see whether or not this ship's worth flying out of here or if we just rig her to blow."

"I'd also recommend everyone staying together once we get inside Skip." The female security officer suggested. "I don't know why, but something about a ship this size being so...dead...it doesn't smell right."

"Lady, that's the understatement of the century." Don muttered. "Coming up on _Ishimura_'s docking bay. Docking tethers engaged."

The Skip and the other crewmembers of the _Pathfinder _waited patiently as the docking tether slid them down the grav field towards the _Ishimura_'s docking bay. Skip shook himself absently, chastising himself for his own silliness. At the same time, he couldn't help but shake the feeling he was entering a waiting mouth.

As the ship entered the cavernous docking bay, the sun of the Aegis system briefly peeked out from behind the _Ishimura's _bulk and illuminated the docking tunnel. If anyone aboard the _Pathfinder_ had bothered to look at the reverse camera, they would have seen the mutilated corpse of a technician float lazily down the concourse, out into the waiting emptiness of space.


	2. Chapter 2

_Ring around the rosie_

_Pocket full of poises_

_Ashes_

_Ashes_

_We All Fall Down_

**DEAD SPACE**

Flatline

_Chapter 2_

Rotting Away

"Docking clamps engaged, we are in the green." Donald informed the crew as the _USG Pathfinder_ settled within the cavernous flight deck of the seemingly abandoned _USG Ishimura_.

"Alright people, get settled and get ready to move." Skip informed his crew. "Vasquez, Raven you two take point. Donald and Jackie take the rear and I'll open any doors we come across. And Jackie, for the love of Christ, don't forget your fucking side arm this time."

"Yessir." Jackie responded meekly.

The hatch hissed open, and both Vasquez and Raven stomped down the ramp, Pulse Rifles up and sweeping the shadows of the bay, but beyond the occasional sound, nothing stirred.

"We're clear!" The black and red haired woman named Raven called back to the ship. "Disembark."

As the other three stomped down the ramp, Skip suddenly reached over and slapped a helmet hard down on Raven's head.

"You forgot it." He said as Raven gave him a dirty look from behind the visor.

"Skip!" Jackie called from near the edge of the docking platform. "Come and take a look at this!"

Flashlights swung down into the darkness of the flight deck's cargo loading area to rest on a twisted mass of white and red metal.

"The _Kellion_." Donald whispered. "Now we know why she never checked back in."

"Looks like they lost the port booster." Jackie pursed her lips in a silent whistle.

"But...where's the crew?" Vasquez asked quietly. "You don't think...?"

"No, this explosion looks like it was secondary." Skip replied. "My guess is they didn't realize the fuel tanks had ruptured till they tried to start her back up, and even then they'd have plenty of time to get the hell out of it. So my guess? They're somewhere on board."

"So why the hell haven't they tried contacting us?" Raven asked harshly, Pulse Rifle sweeping the flight deck. "And why the hell aren't there more lights in this joint?"

"Ship's running in standby mode." Don remarked. "Given the amount of impact craters, never mind whatever caused the grav tethers to fail in the first place, my guess is they took the main reactors out of the loop to prevent a meltdown."

"Well speculation isn't going to do us any good." Skip remarked. "Come on, if anyone is home on this bucket, they'll be on the bridge."

"Door to the flight lounge is open." Jackie commented. "That's weird. I don't remember it being open when we got on board."

"That's because it wasn't." Raven said harshly, and gestured to her partner. Vasquez nodded and quickly rushed to one side of the door while Raven the other. A silent three count by Raven and then the two rushed within. As they crossed the threshold, lighting activated to reveal...nothing.

"That's funny." Skip replied as he, Jackie, and Don made their way into the flight lounge, weapons drawn. "The Bio feedback sensors are still powering the lighting. That means the door couldn't have been opened without someone tripping the lights."

"So what?" Don asked. "Random power glitch?"

"The flight doors aren't connected to the primary systems. It keeps the sort of power glitch your suggesting from happening." Skip said. "Everyone, sync your RIGs with the ship. I don't know about the rest of you, but I've got one helluva creepy vibe coming from this ghost town."

"Tram's this way, Skip." Raven nodded towards the far door. "It should take us all the way to the bridge."

"The security station's been abandoned." Don remarked as they began filing towards the tram. "You'd think if there's been a com failure, they'd at least keep somebody down here to welcome new arrivals."

"We'll just have to get to the bridge and ask them about it, won't we?" Skip replied.

As the group filtered out of the flight lounge, the lights to the lounge flickered out and died. As the room went dark, the soft glowing amber lighting of the security station revealed the drying blood along the back wall - as well as the bloody handprint pressed up against the glass that the lounges normal illumination concealed.

**THE BRIDGE**

The ride to the bridge was uneventful, but Skip and his crew's nerves were on edge as they exited to Tram to...nothing.

"Son of a fucking bitch." Raven complained. "Where the fuck is the crew?"

"That is the million dollar question at the moment." Skip responded, circling around in the tram station. "Ten to one odds we find the bridge abandoned at this point."

"I really don't like this boss." Donald replied. "Why don't we get back into the _Pathfinder _and just call it a day?"

"Donald, there is nothing I would like better at the moment." Skip responded with feeling. "Unfortunately, we're getting paid by the company to get important people and documents off this boat. So let's get to the bridge, access the main computers, and do it fast. The sooner we do this, the sooner we can all go home."

The team entered the silent bridge, the only noise coming from the slight hum of the displays - what few were functioning.

"Well, the Skip was right." Jackie said with a sigh. "Bridge is abandoned."

"Ghost ship, wonderful." Don grumbled.

"Dios mio...Skip!" Vasquez's light was pointed at the bridge's elevator system...and the strange fleshy growth spouting out of it.

"What in the name of all that is holy is THAT?!" Donald cried.

Skip stepped forward and gingerly touched the growth. "Hell if I know." He said, while pulling his hand away and wiping it on the leg of his RIG. "But it's warm, and feels like skin. Looks like we're dealing with some kind of bacteria, maybe?"

"Weirdest looking bacteria I've ever seen." Raven remarked.

"Shit Skip, if that's running all around the ship who knows how many systems it's interfered with." Jackie put in. "If it's gotten into the Mainframe then the whole computer core might be damaged."

"Agreed." Skip sighed and shook his head. "Jackie, check it."

Jackie nodded and walked over to a still functioning terminal, handing her pistol to Donald while she sat down and began typing. Skip and the others, meanwhile, continued to examine the strange growth with only Raven keeping an eye on Jackie's back. In moments, the screen dutifully obeyed Jackie's query.

"Oh SHIT!" Jackie cursed.

"What?" Skip asked urgently as he trotted over to her station.

"Mainframe's down." Jackie said disgusted. "Worse, it looks like the control lines have been severed. Also reading multiple decks out in space or their life support systems have been compromised. This ship's a mess."

Skip looked at the ship schematic for a few moments before shaking his head and letting out a deep sigh. "Alright people, listen up this is how we're going to do this."

"Donald and Vasquez, get to the tram and get your asses to the Engineering you get there, do whatever you have to to get the mainframe back online, even data dump it to a portable if you need to. While that's going on, Raven and I will head to Medical to check on the status of the crew. If this shit is growing all over the ship, then it's possible the crew all went to the Medical deck - they've got far better facilities down there to help with infection control and decontamination."

"What ever happened to not splitting up?" Raven demanded.

"We'll save time this way." Skip replied. "Jackie, you stay here and see what you can learn from what's up here." He paused for a couple of heartbeats, then nodded slightly to himself. "And I'll seal the door to the bridge behind us so nobody can sneak up on you. That should help keep you safe."

"Safe?" Jackie asked with a slight grin. "Safe from what? This ship's derelict, remember? The escape pods and small craft are all missing, which means most of the crew got out...right?"

"I don't know." Skip admitted. "We still haven't found any sign of _Kellion_'s crew. Everyone keep in com contact and don't fucking dally. I want us either getting this ship underway for home in 72 hours, or watching this thing go up like a Christmas Tree while we pull out. Let's move."


End file.
